1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to radio telecommunication systems and, more particularly, to a method of providing a Multiple Mobile Subscriber Access Group (MMSAG) in a radio telecommunications network.
2. Description of Related Art
In existing radio telecommunications networks utilizing the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), a unique mobile directory number called the Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network (MSISDN) number is allocated to each mobile subscriber. To reach a particular subscriber, the subscriber's MSISDN must be dialed by the calling party. This limitation is a disadvantage in situations where the calling party desires to reach any one of a group of mobile subscribers. For example, when a potential passenger desires to call a mobile-equipped taxi cab, the potential passenger must dial the main number to the taxi cab company, and then the taxi company must call one of its mobile-equipped cabs. A dispatch person must call the cabs one at a time until one of them answers. This is a process which is labor-intensive for the taxi cab company since the dispatch person must receive the incoming calls from passengers and place calls to individual cabs in order to respond to the passenger's request. In addition, it is a process which is error-prone since the dispatch person at the cab company is often very busy, and can make mistakes or forget to dispatch a cab in response to the potential passenger's request. This results in a loss of revenue for the cab company and is an inconvenience for the potential passenger who has to find another cab.
There are no known prior art teachings of a solution to the aforementioned deficiency and shortcoming such as that disclosed herein.
In order to overcome the disadvantage of existing GSM networks, it would be advantageous to have a method by which a calling party can dial a single telephone number and be connected to one of a group of called mobile subscribers. The present invention provides such a method.